Fuel feed control for liquid fuel ranges



Jan. 20, 1953 w. GAPPA ET AL FUEL FEED CONTROL FOR LIQUID FUEL RANGES Filed July so, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l FIG.2

l4 LB INVENTORS. William L. (Soppc BY Christian E. Buerki ATTORNEY Jan. 20, 1953 w, GAPPA ET AL FUEL FEED CONTROL FOR LIQUID FUEL RANGES 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed July 30, 1949 m Wm CNN L M EN m mm ATTORNL I Patented jan. 20, 1953 FUEL FEED CONTROL FOR LIQUID FUEL RANGES William L. Gappa, West Allis, and Christian E. Buerki, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to A. J. Lindemann & Hoverson Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application July 30, 1949, Serial No. 107,794

I The improvements relates to liquid fuel stoves and'ranges in which liquid hydrocarbon fuel is usually employed, and more particularly to the burners and fuel distribution and control there- 01, whereby the operation of the burners is conthrough which it is supplied and of the burners which comprise the usual annular oil trough with lighting ring surmounted by the concentric perforated blue flame combustion cylinders or "cones or other combustion devices well known in the art. 1

v The objects and purposes of the improvements, among others, are to produce a more efficient, safe and durable stove or range construction of the type referred to of simple and strong construction and accurate, convenient and dependable operation, and to reduce the cost of manuiacture in materials, labor and fabricating operations. Other objects, purposes and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and referred to therein.

In the said drawings- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the cooking burners and arrangement of the oil reservoir and stringer pipes embodying the improvements;

Fig. 2 is "a' front elevation of the parts shown in the planview of Fig. 1;

' Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the burners 'and its oil reservoir shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with the burner in off position;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the burner and oil reservoir shown in Fig. 3 but with burner in "burning position.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1-4 of the drawing, I represents the oil reservoir base and lower chamber which has upturned therein a common form of glass or metal atmospheric feed bottle 2. The oil reservoir base has orifices 3 and l cut into its bottom which orifices extend through one side of a feed or stringer pipe 5. The feed stringer pipe 5 and base I are held in position by brackets 6 and 1 respectively to which they are secured by any suitable means such as welding, riveting or bolting. The pipe 5 leads into a main feed or stringer pipe 8 which is held rigidly in position by means of a bracket 9 suitably mount- ;ed on the stove frame bottom member ID but which nevertheless issubject to a certain slight 7 Claims. (Cl. 158-42) degree of torque due to the natural resilience of its metal. The bracket 9 is secured to the frame member ID by bolting or other suitablemeans as shown at l I and attached to the main stringer pipe by welding as at 12. In order to add strength to the structure a raised channel piece I3 is attached to the frame member It) by spot or line welding or other suitable means at [4 so that the base I and stringer pipe 5 through the media of the attaching pieces 6 and l are firmly and rigidly aifixed to the member in by means of the reinforcing and connecting channel strip 13.

The main stringer pipe 8 is closed at each end by means of stopper nuts or caps l5 and 15a so that there is fluid entrance into the said tube through the tube 5 only and due to the elevation of the oil reservoir l above the level of the tube 8, and exit thereof from the said main tube only through the burner stringer or feed tubes I6, [6a. and lBb, these tubes being inserted into the main stringer tube through orifices l'l, Ila and I'll) thereof, each of said tubes being inserted a short distance into the interior of the main tube 8 to form shoulders l8, Mia and i812 secured by means of welding or brazing as at IS.

The feed tubes it, Its and I6?) at the front of the frame I!) terminate in plates 20 which are brazed or welded at 2| to the ends of sa d tubes. These plates are tapped and have plugs 22 screw threaded therein and gripping the plates for the purpose of closing the tube ends and providing cleanout openings when removed should the tubes become clogged. Near the end of each plate 20 away from the cleanout plug there is welded to the plate at 23 an outwardly projecting fulcrum arm 24 which is held in a cam slot 25 (see Fig. 6) whose convolutions form a spiral cam slot in a cam disk 26 at the center of which is rigidly fixed an outwardly extending drive rod 21 which passes through .a bearing hole 28 in the indicator plate 28a welded or otherwise fixed to the base frame member It by means of the bolts or selftapping screws 29. The fulcrum arm 24 also passes through the indicator plate 28 and is held in the vertical slot 30 so that when the fulcrum arm 24 follows the ccnvolutions of the cam slot 25 it may only travel up and down vertically and is restrained from lateral movement by the slot. The cam 'disk 26 is spaced from the indicator plate-28 by a washer 3| and held from inward or horizontal movements by a spacer 32 which in turn is fixed on the drive rod 21 by an indicator knob 33.

The feed tubes I6, [6a and [6b have cooking burners 34, 34a and 34b mounted near their termini and at the front of the base member H1, each of these members being mounted on its feed pipe by means of a rear bracket 35 welded or otherwise fixed to the burner and to the feed pipe and at the front by means of a riser 36 consisting of a pipe welded or otherwise inserted into an orifice 31 of the said feed pipe, so that one end of the riser pipe gives access to the interior of the feed pipes I6, lfia or IE1) and the other end gives free access to the interior of the burner trough which consists of an inner annular ring 38, outer annular ring 39, bottom joinder ring 40 an annular lip 4| all preferably formed of a single piece of sheet metal so as to form an annular trough or channel 42, into which is loosely inserted a capillary lighting ring42a.

Referring to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 it will now be seen that when the burner is in 'ofi position, as shown in Fig. 3, the level of the oil .in the feed pipe ISb is below the opening of the riser .31 sothat oil cannot flow into the .trough 4.2.

When however the burner is in light or .burn

riser 35 and is absorbed by the ring 42a, the raising and lowering of the burners 3d, 3 30. and 34?) being permitted by the flexing of the feed tubes [6, [6a and lab through the fulcrum 24 riding in the cam slot 25 on the positive turning of the indicator knob 33 aidxed to the drive shaft2? .and the cam disk 26. This flexing movement .of

the'feed tubes I6, 1611 and 18b is supplemented by the slight movement of their ends which project into the main pipe 8 through openings l1, Ila and Nb and are brazed therewith at E9 to make a strong but slightly flexible joint, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

The operation of the top burner mechanism is as follows:

When it is desired to lightthe cooking burner 34b for example, the indicator knob 35 is turned to the light position which lowers the burner to the extreme position shownin Fig. 4 and allows oil to flow into the channel 42 through the riser 36, the lowering of the burner being brought about by means of the fulcrum riding in the cam convolutions 25 in the disk 26. When lowered the bottom piece 40 is below the oil level maintained in the reservoir l and therefore oil may be absorbed by the lighting ring 42a. After the burner is lit the indicator knob is turned to burn position or any variation thereof and since the travel of the knob 33 from light to ofi position raises the burner'34 by flexing the feed tube 16b the level of the oil in the channel 4.2 .is

flexed position with respect to the joint IE! by the pressure of the fulcrum arm 24 and associated connections riding in the cam slot 25 and on release of pressure on the conduits they will spring back into alignment. To turn the burner off it is only necessary to turn the indicator knob to off position at which time the burner 35b is raised to a position as shown in Fig. 3 where the oil level in the reservoir I is below the bottom 40 of the trough 42, and thus no oil is fed to the trough, but any slight amount of oil remaining in the trough will gravitate to the .portion of the trough away from the riser 31 and not fiow back into the feed pipe I61), andbe evaporated and burned. Thus the provision of the riser liland the elevating member 35 at the sert'ed through the orifice 22a in the indicator plate 28a which gives access to the interior of the feed tube [6b.

Various changes in the details of construction and arrangement herein described and shown may be made without departing from the scope and purport of the improvements. Thus the brazed joints of the burner feed conduits and main conduit or stringer which provide very strong, accurate and durable connections, resisting the tendency of flexure of the former. to cause crystallizationand leakage and dispensing with costly and otherwise objectionable bellow-s joints and coils, may have the ends of the said burner conduits projected into the main conduit to a greater or lesser extent and additionally connected with the main conduit to provide for the absorption of more of the flexure by the latter, and the swinging and guiding move.-

ment of the oven burner may be provided for by other means substantially equivalent to those shown. Substantial equivalents of the. burner raising and lowering cam'slots and of otheroperating parts may also be employed.

What we claim is: I

1. In a device of the character describeda liquid fuel reservoir constructed and arranged to maintain a constant liquid level, a main liquid fuel discharge and supply conduit in comm nication therewith in which the said level is maintained, a plurality of burners, a relatively inflexible uninterrupted burner supply conduit for each burner-in open communication with said main conduit and burner fixed to said main conduit at one end and to the burner at a point distant therefrom and supporting the burner, means for raising and lowering each. burner conduit adjacent the burner by forcibly flexing it on its connection with the main conduit and thereby varying its position andthe position of the burner with respect to the maintained liquid level, said means comprising a member fixed to the burner conduit and projecting therefrom and a manually operable cam device in engagement with .said member whereby movement of the cam device causes vertical movement of said member, the burner conduit and burner.

2. In a device as specified in claim ,1, said cam device comprising a member having a spiral recess therein engaged by the said burner conduit member and mounted for rotation and there being a cam supporting device having a vertical recess also engaged by the last named member and holding it against lateral movement under the pressure of the cam device. 7 I

3. In a device of the character described, a liquid fuel reservoir constructed and arranged to maintain a constant liquid level, a main liquid fuel discharge and supply conduit in communication therewith in which the said level is maintamed, a plurality of burners, a flexible burner supply conduit for each burner in communication with said main conduit and burner fixed to said main conduit at one end and to the burner at a point distant therefrom and supporting the burner, means for raising and lowering each burner conduit adjacent the burner by flexing it on its connection with the main conduit and thereby varying its position and the position of the burner with respect to the maintained liquid level, said burner being mounted and supported on said burner supply conduit above and parallel to the plane thereof, connecting and spacing supports between diametrically opposed sides of the bottom of said burner and said burner conduit, the said support on the side of the burner farthest from the main conduit having a channel therethrough communicating between the interior of the burner and the said burner conduit for the supply of liquid fuel to the burner and the portion of the burner bottom extending away from said channel being downwardly inclined with respect thereto to the channeled support when the burner is in a position above the said liquid level, whereby a portion of the fluid is retained in the burner when said burner is elevated above the liquid level.

4. In a device as specified in claim 1, the burner supply conduits projecting through the walls of the main conduit, extending into the interior thereof for their full diameter and united by being brazed together on their exteriors and the exterior of said main conduit at their intersection.

5. In a device of the character described, a liquid fuel reservoir constructed and arranged to maintain a constant liquid level, a main liquid fuel discharge and supply conduit in communication therewith in which the said level is maintained, a plurality of burners, a relatively inflexible burner supply conduit for each burner in open communication with said main conduit, a joint between said burner conduit and main conduit at one end and a connection between it and the burner at a 'point spaced therefrom, means for raising and lowering the burners individually and forcibly flexing said conduit on its connection with the main conduit and thereby varying its position and the position of the burner with respect to the maintained liquid level, said means comprising a member connected with the burner conduit and a manually operable lifting device in engagement with said member, whereby movement of the latter device causes vertical movement of said member, the burner conduit and bur r.

6. In a device of the character described, a liquid fuel reservoir constructed and arranged to maintain a constant liquid level, a main liquid fuel discharge and supply conduit in communication therewith in which the said level is maintained, a plurality of burners, a relatively inflexible burner supply conduit for each burner in open communication with said main conduit, a flexible joint between said burner conduit and main conduit at one end and a connection between it and the burner at a point spaced there from, means for raising and lowering the burners individually and forcibly flexing said burner conduit on its connection with the said main conduit and thereby varying its position and the position of the burner with respect to the maintained liquid level, said means comprising a member connected with the burner conduit and a manually operable lifting device in engagement with said member. whereby movement of the latter device causes vertical movement of said member, the burner conduit and burner on said flexible joint.

7. In a device as specified in claim 1, a removable closure in the end of each burner conduit farthest from the main conduit and on the inner side of said cam device and accessible from outside said cam device, whereby said closure may be removed when said cam device is in a predetermined position.

WILLIAM L. GAPPA. CHRISTIAN E. BUERKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 776,320 Harrison Nov. 29, 1904 1,060,458 Kelly Apr. 29, 1913 1,150,620 Phillips Aug. 17, 1915 1,161,525 Phillips Nov. 23, 1915 1,452,354 Blackford Apr. 17, 1923 1,488,854 White Apr. 1, 1924 1,787,189 Cooper et a1. Dec. 30, 1930 1,809,892 Ellis et a1. June 16, 1931 1,875,239 Hoeft Aug. 30, 1932 2,088,959 Hurwitz Aug. 3, 1947 

